Generation of high-purity higher-order Laguerre-Gauss beams at high laser power

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the generation of high-purity higher-order Laguerre-Gauss beams at high laser power, relevant for gravitational wave detectors, achieving a record purity at 83W power.

Contribution

It reports the first high-purity LG33 mode generation at powers exceeding 80W, advancing high-power laser beam shaping techniques.

Findings

Achieved 97% purity of LG33 mode at 83W

First demonstration of high-purity higher-order LG beams at such power levels

Relevant for improving gravitational wave interferometers

Abstract

We have investigated the generation of highly pure higher-order Laguerre-Gauss (LG) beams at high laser power of order 100W, the same regime that will be used by 2nd generation gravitational wave interferometers such as Advanced LIGO. We report on the generation of a helical type LG33 mode with a purity of order 97% at a power of 83W, the highest power ever reported in literature for a higher-order LG mode.